Most Indian supporters would probably say Australia, including me. Mostly because England beat us at home and we're even with the Aussies after the recent series win, so I'd rather watch the Aussies beat England. But part of me genuinely wants Australia to do well cuz I feel bad for Clarke and the kind of batsmen his team contains.

It'll actually be interesting to see the Aussies vs Spin in England, you would think they would do a lot better after basically getting 4 test matches worth of practice against quality spinners on helpful pitches that Swann and Panesar would by default seem a lot easier to face.

Then again you never know with the Aussie bats because they looked horrible in the recent series.

in the future where we're all social justice-y Cribb can ride down the street to pick up some raw milk from Coles on a motorised esky while smoking meth, firing an RPG into the air, and carrying the case of British-import Stella he's polygamously (and privately) married alongside a genderfluid Zambian businessperson and a coke-snorting 18-year-old cyborg girl.

Would have been a fence-sitter "just hope the players I like do well and it's a close series" three weeks ago, but having to put up with the English media for three weeks trumpeting their side's supposed superiority over us, I'm definitely going for Australia now.

It'll actually be interesting to see the Aussies vs Spin in England, you would think they would do a lot better after basically getting 4 test matches worth of practice against quality spinners on helpful pitches that Swann and Panesar would by default seem a lot easier to face.

Interesting definition of quality there.

If the pitches are turners then I don't see that it'll be any easier, in fact it may even be trickier. If they're not turners (which is likely) then they'll suddenly have to face quality seam bowlers on helpful pitches.

marc71178 - President and founding member of AAAS - we don't only appreciate when he does well, but also when he's not quite so good!

I got great enjoyment shouting "WHY THE **** ISN'T THIS GAME BEING PLAYED AT THE BASIN?!>!?!?" to reasonably significant cheers from the sparse crowd

one day NZ will bring chappell to his knees in a puddle of his own tears and you'll see Phlegm on his belly greedily tasting every delicious tear before watching the hope fade from that old ****s eyes.

Would have been a fence-sitter "just hope the players I like do well and it's a close series" three weeks ago, but having to put up with the English media for three weeks trumpeting their side's supposed superiority over us, I'm definitely going for Australia now.

Though Aggers is a lovely bloke...

Wait wait, you only discovered the English media three weeks ago? Didn't notice them in the last, oh, century or something?

I only need to think about how patronizing with the rest of the world they are every time they win a bloody game/series in any sport (despite being historically ordinary everywhere) to remember where my allegiance should be in every contest they are competing in (apart against Australia in the noughties, but nobody could root for Australia back then.).

Do I need to remind you of Rugby WC '03? Ashes 2005? The weeks before every major football competition? Michael Vaughan? Daley's repeated jump in the Olympics? He's got one wrong, so they allowed him to reload like in a bloody videogame, and the next day all the tabloids were drooling over his bronze.

The sporting world expects that every man will do his duty: root for an English loss.

Do your part.

(To all the English fans, it's not about you. It's about your media. Stop buying that dung for the love of God! Do it as a favour to us all. After all, we [Romans] civilized you. Yes yes, you gave us all these nice sports since, which is good. But now complete the opera and burn down all the suns and daily things. You have no idea how grateful all of us will be)

[Disclaimer: the bitterness in this post is mainly the result of yesterday's game and yet another wasted night. My actual opinions might be milder]

Really tough, both sides have players I like (Siddle, Starc, Clarke, Pietersen, Prior, Anderson) and both sides have players I loathe (Watson, Warner, Hughes, Broad, Finn). Australia go in as big underdogs, so I'll probably cheer for them. You all know how much I love a lost cause.

Last edited by Bahnz; 26-03-2013 at 04:10 PM.

Originally Posted by HeathDavisSpeed

I can think of a list of Sydney Grade posters who would contribute a better average post than Bahnz.

Australia. I really like the team. And I love the Australian sporting culture (don't dare say the word 'australianism' though ). I think it's a fantastic thing they have going - plus there are so many players who I think are easy to like.

Mainly because they work extremely hard and don't take themselves too seriously once the game is over - obviously lots of exceptions all around (especially recently..) but I do like the general attitude of taking responsibilities (whatever you say about Ponting, the man always took full blame after every loss - no blaming x or y). I like their professionalism, plus guys like Border who I think is just a fantastic role model for other athletes. I hate saying that an all time great player had less 'natural skill' than another (especially someone who scored 11000 runs..) - because concentration is a skill too but I can't get it out of my head that if Allan Border had the skill of Brian Lara, he'd challenge Donald Bradman in average. Yet he still manages to average about the same as Lara and the others, through, what appeared to me, sheer determination and bloody mindedness.

I marvel at guys like Sachin or Lara, but I admire guys like Allan Border. So yea, long story short, as much as I sometimes like to hate on a lot of Australian teams, it's hard not to root for them.

Originally Posted by KungFu_Kallis

Peter Siddle top scores in both innings....... Matthew Wade gets out twice in one ball